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Monday, August 13, 2012

Scots Irish at Concord, NH, and the "Irish Fort"

Scots Irish Early Settlers at Concord, New Hampshire and the "Irish Fort"
By Guest Blogger Tom Tufts ttuftsy@comcast.net

The Advanced Guard, June 21, 1759 *

The Scots-Irish went
many places after landing in Nutfield. They were considered squatters at
Concord and built what may have been the first fort in the interior of New
Hampshire. Previous forts were in place at the Seacoast to protect from foreign
invasions and every community had garrison houses built for defense, but theirs
seems to be the first called a fort. The
only fort before this was built for an injured soldier on the way to Lovewell’s
fight in Pigwacket (Fryeburg Maine) in 1725 and was merely a “palisaded log
cabin”. (This is quoted from one of the best books on the conflict; A Half-Century of Conflict by Francis
Parkman. The injured soldier of Lovewell’s was Benjamin Kidder of Nutfield.) The
Fort at #4 in Charlestown, NH was built later.

We know the
Scots-Irish were in Nutfield as early as 1719 and apparently some moved on to
Concord by 1721-1722. This is mentioned in The
military history of the state of New-Hampshire, from its settlement, in 1623,
to the rebellion, in 1861: comprising an account of the stirring events
connected therewith; biographical notices of many of the officers distinguished
therein: and notes explanatory of the text by C. E. Potter. That reference
states in the same chapter that the fort at Penacook (Concord) was there in
1722 when Massachusetts sent soldiers there to take command of it and drive off
the Irish. How successful they were is open to debate and further research.
They could be the families that settled in Dunbarton and surrounding towns like
Bow. The History of Concord…by The
Historic Commission and Lyford states that surveyors in 1722 found the Irish
there and reported it to the authorities, claiming they had a grant from New
Hampshire to make a settlement there.

The Massachusetts government thought
enough of this report to send a troop there to investigate. They did indeed
find the Scots-Irish settled there and in the discussion of who had the power
to hold or grant the land, the Scots-Irish spokesman, (a Mr. Houston) told Lt.
Frie (or Frye) and his troop to remove themselves or they would drive them off. No
one was removed and the Lieutenant sent back to Massachusetts for advice but it
appears they stayed and surveyed the settlement on the west side of the river
and the Irish maintained their homes in what is now East Concord. By 1724 they
had erected a fort within 80 rods of Sewall’s farm “upon the interval on the
east side of the river with a view to permanent occupation”. This was the
“Irish Fort” and in 1725 the Indian hunter, Col. Tyng rested there on his way
to scout for Indians in the Winnipesauke area. Since then this area has been
know as the fort and encompasses East Concord which is near to New Hampshire’s
current “Fort”, the National Guard base.

It seems though,
that the Irish settlers were to be caught up in the fight between Massachusetts
and New Hampshire for the rights to settle the land. They had long fought over
the boundary between the two states and this was miles to the north but they
both claimed it as their own. Even to the point where each sent surveyors to
lay out the land and enticed settlers with money to settle there. Each state
also granted lands and lots and in 1725, families from Andover, Haverhill and
other Essex County towns started to settle on the west side of the river.
Nothing more is said of the Irish in that publication. In Bouton’s History of Concord the Irish of Nutfield
are mentioned as having a fort there prior to the grant by Massachusetts. One
of the petitions even states that “as in the case of Nutfield, it would be a
thing attended with too much difficulty to pretend to root them out, if they
should get a foothold there”.

The Indian
danger was present from the first settlements right up until the Revolutionary
period. Some historians have called this Americas bloodiest conflict as it was
deadlier per capita compared to the Civil War or the World Wars. At times
referred to as the French and Indian wars, they can be defined by monarch and
time period and relation to the European conflict they accompanied. No matter
what you call it the period from first settlement to late Eighteenth Century
was a warring time. Each village had to muster and drill and numerous lists of
these soldiers are available. The Scots-Irish were not unaccustomed to this as
they had endured the same fate before coming to America. Their history there is
full of war stories. A full chapter of History
of Londonderry is devoted to their turbulent times in the British Isles. Their
names are scattered throughout the early rosters of Militia. It is no surprise
that on settling at “Penacook” they built a fort for protection from the Indians. Robert Rogers the famous Indian hunter and first leader of “Rangers”
in the military was said to be Scots-Irish but there was debate over whether he
was from Londonderry or Massachusetts.

Next time….more
on the Scots in the local militias and offensive attacks on Louisburg Nova
Scotia and Canada.

-----------------------------

The histories
mentioned in this article are:

History
of Concord, New Hampshire: From the Original Grant in Seventeen Hundred
and Twenty-five to the Opening of the Twentieth Century, by Concord (N.H.).
City History Commission, Amos Hadley, Will B. Howe

The
History of Concord: From Its First Grant in 1725, to the Organization of
the City Government in 1853, with a History of the Ancient Penacooks ; the
Whole Interspersed with Numerous Interesting Incidents and Anecdotes, Down to
the Present Period, 1885 ; Embellished with Maps ; with Portraits of Distinguished
Citizens, and Views of Ancient and Modern Residences by Nathaniel Bouton

The
History of Londonderry, Comprising the Towns of Derry and Londonderry, N. H. by Edward Lutwyche Parker

4 comments:

Very interesting! Sometimes we forget there were plenty of Irish/Scots who came to our shores long before the massive influx of the late 1700's and the mid 1800's. Side bar comment- my sister once lived in Tyngsboro MA, named after the Tyng family.

My comment is not related to this post...but I wanted to tell you how excited our family was when we came across your post entries related to the Holt Family of HI!! My Husbands family is a direct line of Hanakaulani O Kamamalu. His Tutu (who is 84) and family still reside in Oahu. Her Father is Maltbie Lewis Holt, who's father is Christopher Jones Holt, who's Mother is Hanakaulani O Kamamalu. Anyway you see the connection. Again we are just so excited to have found your blog and look forward to reading more and understanding our family history!Cherie Napoleoncherryandwally@msn.com

Cherie, are you on Facebook? Are you a member of the "Hawaii's Holts" group on FB? We have a lot of fun there swapping stories, photos and lineages from the Holts. Perhaps I'll see you over there, or you can email me here in New Hampshire at vrojomit@gmail.com

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About Me

Author of the Nutfield Genealogy blog and occasional genealogy speaker. My family research includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a smattering of Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you see your ancestors on this blog. I would love to share information. I am the former secretary of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, former President of the Londonderry Historical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mass. Society of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.